Every Chicago Bears off-season has one or two surprises when it comes to their roster. Not all of them are positive. However, that is far from the case with Jack Sanborn. Nobody had much to say when the team signed him back in April. All the experts saw was a productive linebacker at Wisconsin not getting drafted because he wasn’t the standout athlete the NFL looks for these days. It took less than two full games of preseason action for those experts to realize they may have miscalculated.
Sanborn is the easy choice if the Bears have an MVP over the past two weeks. He has 14 tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, three tackles for a loss, and two tackles on special teams. Nobody else is close to that level of production. The fact he did it in less than two full games of snaps makes it all the more impressive. One person who couldn’t get enough was former player Brian Baldinger of NFL Network. He had plenty of good things to say about the Bears rookie.
.@ChicagoBears #JackSanborn keeps showing up playing almost 90 snaps in 2 preseason games. NEWSFLASH!! If you are need of Lbers pay a visit to Madison @BadgerFootball #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/q4uQNvLQqJ
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 23, 2022
Jack Sanborn is a familiar story.
Every single year there are examples like him. Players never get a serious look from teams because they’re too short, skinny, or slow. Then they realize that physical attributes alone don’t determine what good football players are. Instincts, intelligence, and desire go a long way in this league. Sanborn has proven to have all three of those things in abundance. Besides, it’s not like timed speed is undefeated in determining great linebackers.
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Jack Sanborn ran a 4.73 at the scouting combine. Indianapolis Colts All-Pro Shaquille Leonard ran a 4.70. Arizona Cardinals 1st round pick Zaven Collins ran a 4.67. This is why tape and productivity should carry more weight in evaluations. Sanborn had 89 tackles, 16 for a loss, and five sacks in 2021. He was everywhere. Yet all anybody could talk about was his average speed and quickness.
It seems their loss is going to be the Bears’ gain.
Love this kid, special teams play has been very good too.
I like Sanborn A LOT!
I would add that a lot of pundits really do not understand the “measurables” For example, while Sanborn’s 40 is 4.73 to Urlacher’s 4.57, their 10 yd splits are only 2/100s of a second difference (S – 1.65, U – 1.63) and Sanborn is somewhat better on the agility measures (S – shuttle 4.05/3 cone 6.81 to U’s 4.18 and 6.94). Rarely do linebackers run as much as 40 yards and they have to negotiate their way around multiple massive bodies. An accurate read, an explosive start, and the ability to change directions rapidly are attributes that have a lot… Read more »
Sam Backus forgot one critical element in his evaluation of Sanborn, his brain. I have no idea how good he is at math or science, but on a football field he is a savant. Knowing where to be, or how to get where you need to be in the quickest way possible can be worth a couple of hundredths or more. I hope he is at least picked for the Taxi Squad.
Like it’s been said, figures lie and liars figure. We try these days to attach numbers to everything and use those to judge performance. You can’t measure desire or how much of it is dependent on how you’re used.